Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to Engage Third-Party Logistics Providers

Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) managers struggle to stay competitive. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies SME managers located in Canada use to engage third-party logistics (3PL) providers to improve their supply chains. Porter\u27s value chain theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 3 managers from 3 different SMEs in the province of Ontario and a review of the documents related to the use of 3PL providers. Member checking was conducted to enhance credibility of interpretation of the data collected. Data analysis was used to identify key themes, and data triangulation was performed on data from interviews and relevant company documents. Main themes that indicated the benefits of 3PL providers were identified through data analysis. The main themes included access to resources, competitive advantage, and enhanced customer service. Study findings may contribute to social change by helping SME managers improve their survival rate in Canada, maintain or create employment, and generate more personal income and taxes

Current Advancements of and Future Developments for Fourth Party Logistics in a Digital Future

This paper aims to analyze the potential future of the 4PL concept based on expert opinions with special regard to the influence of digitalization coming with a disruptive trans-formation of supply chains. Service arrangements, provider capabilities and benefits resulting from a 4PL partnership are compared in current and future configurations. The research follows an explorative mixed methods approach with semi structured interviews followed by an expert panel. This builds a basis for an online survey questionnaire to inquire on important future aspects for the 4PL concept by a sample of respondents from multinational companies. Our results show a clear trend away from simply organizing transportation and logistics activities towards the provision of an IT platform as well as further value-added service activities such as planning, analytics and monitoring. Along with this, IT capabilities appear to be an important differentiator for 4PL providers in the future. Moreover, relationships between 4PL providers and their clients become closer and more strategic, which leads to a customer valuing not only direct cost reductions but rather improvements resulting from optimized operations through superior analysis and planning functions

Management guidelines for third-party logistics

There is a significant amount of useful yet fragmented research in third-party logistics (3PL). This article seeks to review, summarize, and structure this 3PL research to provide a reference guide for managers interested in exploring, building, or improving logistics outsourcing opportunities. Topics covered include reasons to outsource, functions to outsource, 3PL provider evaluation, implementation and relationship success factors, contracts, and performance measures

Third Party Logistics Service Quality And The Moderating Role Of Switching Costs Between Customer Satisfaction And Behavioural Loyalty

A multitude of companies has already identified the need to create a loyal customer base and acknowledged maintaining existing customers and extending businesses with them are significantly less expensive than acquiring new customers. Therefore this thesis describes the development of a conceptual model to investigate the factors affecting customer behavioural loyalty towards third party logistics (3PL) provider involving factors such as logistics service quality (LSQ), customer satisfaction and switching costs. One hundred and seventy four sets of completed questionnaire were collected from 3PL customers in the manufacturing sector from industrial hubs throughout Malaysia. Using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis approach, the findings revealed four out of the nine dimensions of LSQ have positive relationships with customer satisfaction. The second order factor, functional quality and technical quality have positive relationships with customer satisfaction. LSQ as the third order factor has positive relationship towards customer satisfaction and behavioural loyalty. Customer satisfaction is a partial mediator in the relationship between LSQ and behavioural loyalty. Only procedural switching cost is a moderator towards the relationship between customer satisfaction and behavioural loyalty. Therefore, spurious loyalty is revealed in the relationship between customer satisfaction and behavioural loyalty when procedural switching cost exists. The findings of this study will help practitioners such as 3PL providers maintain close relationships with customers

Chong Chu Le

The global economic environment is experiencing uncertainties and the strategic responses of third party logistics (3PL) in Malaysia are not precluded. With the 3PL industry experiencing growing demands of 3PL users and the emergence of more 3PL service providers, these have created further competition within the 3PL industry to attract user firms. This requires 3PL firms to review their strategies to become more competitive. This study focused on the evaluation of external and internal environment followed by strategic choices made by 3PL firms in Malaysia to produce operational performance achieving financial performance in the wake of economic global uncertainties. The 3PL firms strategic positioning choices are low costs and differentiation yielding operational performance of cost and service to achieve financial performance. A composite model was studied based on both perspectives of Resource-based view and Market-based view. The findings show both the external and internal environment influence operations emphases and operational performance leading to financial performance. This study has also found 10 full paths in the model beginning from either external or internal environment through operations emphases and operational performance driving financial performance of 3PL firms. These full paths indicate RBV and MBV are complementary rather than competing frames. In this uncertain global economic environment, firms exercise both cost and service capabilities as their strategies. This finding is supported by the theory of cumulative capabilities

A bibliometric analysis of selection of third-party logistics providers

19 páginasPurpose – To carry out a bibliometric review of third-party logistics service (3PLS) provider selection and identify the current stream of the field. Design/methodology/approach – Begins by setting the keywords for the search query to properly set the limit and scope of the research. The input selected for the study are papers, conference papers. Key indicators like publication productivity, citation, conceptual mapping, and research front are presented and discussed. The tools used for gathering the output were Rstudio and VosViewer. Findings: 3PLS provider selection is a topic studied mainly by surveys, case studies, and mathematical models' application. The selection decision is a multicriteria decisionmaking process and is mainly guided by quantitative models. Future research: 3PLS provider selection should include additional financial performance analysis. Last-mile distribution or collaborative distribution (covid19 as the main driver) and selection models applied to ecommerce could be developed. Practical implications: Managers could adapt the available publications and their models to their industry. Scholars can apply the model to different industries to set more robustness to the current conceptual and theoretical framework.Maestría en Gerencia InternacionalMagíster en Gerencia Internaciona

Knowledge Integrated Business Process Management for Third Party Logistics Companies

The growing importance of logistics as well as the increasing dynamic complexity of markets, technologies, and customer needs has brought great challenges to logistics. In order to focus on their core competency in such a competitive environment, more and more companies have outsourced a part or the entirety of the logistics process to third party logistics (3PL) service providers. 3PL has played a crucial role in managing logistics processes within supply chain management. Logistics processes require and supply various types of knowledge for planning, developing, operating, controlling and improving business processes. Therefore, in the current knowledge era, knowledge integrated business process management (KIBPM) is of significant importance for 3PL. This work applies KIBPM in 3PL from both a theoretical and practical perspective. The methodology for this study is a combination of literature and primary source research. From the theoretical perspective, it reviews the related literature on knowledge, KM, KIBPM and 3PL. It next analyzes application potentials as well as basic theories of KIBPM in 3PL, and proposes a framework for application. Furthermore, it studies the issues, knowledge sources and content, as well as KM approaches from the strategic and operational perspectives. In particular, it discusses the dynamics, logistics networks, business process networks and tacit knowledge sharing in 3PL. From the practical perspective, a case study of a leading 3PL provider demonstrates the drivers, practices and approaches of KIBPM application. The case study is based on in-depth interviews and extensive access to the secondary data of the firm. It analyzes the core business processes, the process knowledge and key activities of KM in the formulation of business strategy and the operation of business processes in contract logistics. In addition, it applies the proposed framework in this case. Furthermore, it discusses the findings from the literature and case study that relate to the research questions, compares the differences and similarities of KM in 3PL between theory and practice, and puts forward some research and managerial implications. This study has come to the conclusion that it is more effective and efficient to integrate KM in business processes. Knowledge of market, customer requirements, partners, and competitors and collaborative KM in the logistics networks are essential when choosing competitive strategies, process designs and development strategies for business. 3PL needs dynamic capabilities to sustain competitive advantage through KM. In operation, knowledge related business procedures and domains, as well as the results in project management of warehousing, intermodal transport and cooperation between geographic networks, have considerable value for business process execution, evaluation and improvement. 3PL motivates tacit knowledge sharing and effective knowledge acquisition, production, warehousing, distribution and application with a trusting organizational culture, process oriented structure, appropriate technology, and incentive measures. However, while KM is a tool for improving the competency and performance for the organization, learning capability is more important to keeping sustainable competitive advantage in the long term for 3PL. The application of KIBPM in 3PL supports business process management at both the strategic and operational levels. It especially contributes to business development, collaborative projects, intermodal transport, and logistics service improvement

Reverse logistics and 3PL in the Czech Republic

The paper is focused on presenting the results of survey investigating the utilization of services of the so called 3PL or in other words outsourcing of reverse logistics activities in the context of their strategic versus operative or ad hoc management of RL and in relation to various benefits seeking and gaining within the frame of RL management. The exploratory analysis tries to answer the basic research question whether companies strategically managing reverse flows use services of 3PL more often compared to companies with ad hoc or operative management and what is the role of costs versus benefits in the context of outsourcing of RL activities. The survey was realized among 150 Czech small, middle and big companies from several industries and the size and type of industry are two other contextual factors related to outsourcing decisions. Results show statistically significant relationship between character of planning hierarchy and number of activities performed by 3PL, where companies that plan RF strategically, employ 3PL more often. The survey also shows that companies which outsource more RL activities perceive less financial benefits than nonfinancial benefits. Significant dependence was detected between the size of company and number of both benefits perceived with RF management. Very important result shows that activities which are outsourced distinctly more by the companies planning RL strategically belong to the activities creating higher value for companies.The paper is focused on presenting the results of survey investigating the utilization of services of the so called 3PL or in other words outsourcing of reverse logistics activities in the context of their strategic versus operative or ad hoc management of RL and in relation to various benefits seeking and gaining within the frame of RL management. The exploratory analysis tries to answer the basic research question whether companies strategically managing reverse flows use services of 3PL more often compared to companies with ad hoc or operative management and what is the role of costs versus benefits in the context of outsourcing of RL activities. The survey was realized among 150 Czech small, middle and big companies from several industries and the size and type of industry are two other contextual factors related to outsourcing decisions. Results show statistically significant relationship between character of planning hierarchy and number of activities performed by 3PL, where companies that plan RF strategically, employ 3PL more often. The survey also shows that companies which outsource more RL activities perceive less financial benefits than nonfinancial benefits. Significant dependence was detected between the size of company and number of both benefits perceived with RF management. Very important result shows that activities which are outsourced distinctly more by the companies planning RL strategically belong to the activities creating higher value for companies

Logistics Outsourcing: A Review of Basic Concepts

The proliferation of new information technologies, intense business competition, transactions acceleration, rapid product obsolescence, shorter product life cycle and changing customer needs and requirements, have pushed firms to reorganize, to revise their businesses strategies and to refocus on their core businesses. In response to these challenges, many firms start to outsource more of their business functions including the logistics ones. Logistics outsourcing has become a common practice by many firms, whether they are local or multinational, small or large. And it has attracted attention of both researchers and practitioners. The aim of this paper is to provide a general overview of logistics outsourcing through presenting the state of the art research in this field, exhibiting the different related concepts and based on that, suggesting future research directions